R/C Steam Turbine Tank

Need an excuse to play with fire? Then consider building this turbine tank. Guarantee to drive your neighbor crazy, and attract dogs for miles around. Turn down your speakers a bit, and watch the vide to see what I mean :)

Seriously though, if you want something outside of the norm, something part geeky, part artsy, and full on FUN, then this might be the project for you. And yes, it really does run on STEAM, and yes, it is a TURBINE.

Before we get started, here comes the disclaimers.... You are reading this because you like making things, hacking things to make it better, or make something that doesn't exist. Therefore you are probably a pro at voiding warranties, and have a tendency to ignore warnings... but since I am giving you exact details of how to build this thing, humor me and please read the following carefully, so that I can sleep at night!

Steam power should not be taken lightly. This is instructable contains detailed instructions on building a R/C machine that is carrying flammable gas, and on fire, and producing steam pressure capable of scalding, or worse. Without proper attention, you can suffer blisters on your finger - no big deal, or burn down your house - BIG deal. Just be careful, and make sure that your r/c gear is working properly before lighting it up, and never tweak the boiler's safety valve.

Now with that out of the way, here's a project that can be very fulfilling to build, and fun to run. Your friend has a cool R/C toy car, but you've got a R/C steam turbine tank.

On with the build!

Step 1: Tools

Ready to jump in? Here are the tools you need....

Safety Gear:
Fire Extinquisher, Face Mask, Safety Goggles, Gloves

Hand Tools:
-Hex Wrenches in Metric and Standard
-Wrench & Needle Nose Pliers
-Screw Drivers
-Metal Sheers
-Center Punch

Power Tools:
-Power Drill
-Drill Bits
-Dremel Tool
-Dremel flexible neck a plus
-Dremel grinder discs
-Dremel sanding wheels

Soldering Gear:
-Soldering / Brazing Torch
-Flux
-Silver Solder
-Sand Paper

Other:
-Taflon Tape
-Thead Locker
-Sharpie
-Air Compressor
-Small Zip Ties
-Velcro Tape
-Table Vice

Materials (described in detail later, in the steps):
-CEN universal joint
-Brass Tubing
-Steel rods, 4mm
-Meccano sprockets - 1 large, 3 small
-Meccano Chains, less than 2 feet
-Aluminum sheets & rods
-Shaft couplings & lock couplings
-Nuts, bolts, screws, washers etc.
-Sheet metal
-High Heat Paint

Comments

[agishero]

Is there anyway to it a little noisy?

[solomonhorses]

This is by far the best r/c instructable I have ever seen. I would love to make one with a turbine, such as yours. I have many little projects that could use a jensen style turbine. could you let me know where to find an equivalent or the turbine alone? Thanks!

[Electorials]

That's totally awesome! :D

[rc trucks man]

That is really cool, I would not be able to build one of them

____________________________________
rc tanks fan

[the.rollie]

another trick for bending tubing: the way they make bends in trumpets and such: fill with water and freeze

[onrust]

Dude, that's a good one! The OLD school plumber trick is to fill with sand and cap it..... Thanks

[Notquitepinoy]

" If someone nearby crashed their expensive r/c helicopter because you turned on your transmitter using the same frequency, you'd better hope that he doesn't find you. hahaha I love that sentence, you're funny crab fu

[zilcho]

Wow cool, I've seen these steam turbines do cool things but never pull this kind of weight. Very neat ible

[bayyagg]

Why not use a bunsen burner instead of propane w/ valve? much cheaper w/ alcohol as fuel.

[idlymr74]

maybe a penny stove might work, have not read full ible

[nalk55]

I just kinda skimmed through this but I might attempt to do this. It's a pretty cool thing.

[bayyagg]

Tamiya 1/18 scale tank tracks and gears is cheaper and accessible in any hobby shop!

[jbaker22]

Where you on modern marvels?

[crabfu]

yeah :)

[The nerdling]

get othe people to make them and have races

[erikals]

sweet 'ible
If I had a steam powered RC tank I would probably run it off solid fuel, something like coal or wood would work for me (as long as I can keep the heat up)

[lloydrmc]

VERY cool. The Macsteam link has changed to: http://www.maccsteam.com/Vertical_boilers/3_and_half_inch.html (there used to be a space where there is now an underscore)

I could pick nits (e.g. a "vice" is a bad habit, and a "vise" is a clamping device), and I won't because I think you did an amazing job on a very cool project.

[Sky Woulf]

I wonder if you could pull off the sprokets (drive) and subistute some left over parts from your gear reduction setup to run dual chain treads on each edge of the road wheels?

[flamekiller]

This is pure awesomeness in, well, a boiler I guess. I actually came to Instructables today to look at steam engine stuff, and here this was, on the front page!

[ilpug]

of all the relitively useless awesome things one could build, this about takes the cake. good job. its AMAZING.

[[corosive]]

do you have to use the Jensen steam turbine? i don't really want to spend $636 or whatever they wanted for it, just to take off the turbine and waste the rest of it.

[[corosive]]

i will pwn my friends with this if i can build one. how much does it cost to build?

[gafernandesil]

Can I use epoxy instead silver solder?

[mr. clean]

Thats awesome i cant believe that u got to be on modern marvels too!

[KNEXFRANTIC]

awsome and somehow sick lol

[Sander62]

This is really nice.
And it isn't just functioning, it looks awesome too.
Definitely a great instructable.

So what's the next step, steam airplane?
Would be awesome if you could make that happen!

[StanUK]

Added to my favourites!

[Knot71]

Outstanding! I picked up some RC Tank parts from Remote Island. I then came on here to see if there was an instructable on making an RC electric tank.... This is definately more than I bargained for... But probably out of my comfort zone... How long did it take to build? My boy would love it (so would I )...

[The Cloak]

Where did you buy the steam turbine you are using?

[OXI2vasyl]

awesome :D

[yourworstnightmare]

YOU ARE AMAZING!How did you come up with this? What is the total cost and time spent making it? 5 STARS!

[churchman]

MAN I ACSEDENTALY HADE MY SPEAKERS ON FULL AND I HAD EARPHONES ON EAR ARE BLEEDING! SKARED ME HALF TO DEATH

[TheParadox]

Put a suppressor on it! MY EARS!!! :( So cool though!!!

[jules15]

owww..   ears       bleeding.....

[floryzzz]

 Sweet

[XOIIO]

Amazing! That rc vehicle looks sooo cool. How much were they new?


Also, definitly do something with the engine!

[MisterHankie]

Well it's not really a tank unless you put a cannon on it is it? But it's still awesome.

[Cyberscann54]

F.Y.I. The military's original tank was used to carry water to the troops. No weapons or armor just a tank full of water. eventually its was given a track instead of tires to handle tougher terrain not long after they decided to mount a cannon on it and then it became a weapon . So for all instances it has a tank full of water and carries it around it deserves to be called a tank

[davecollinsnz]

Actually they were code-named 'tanks' so that if the enemy intercepted a message, they wouldn't think they were weapons, just tanks that carry water. After that, the name 'tanks' just stuck. Anyway, it has a flame, gas and hot pressured steam-I would consider that a weapon. Crabfu, this is awesome.

[kissiltur]

Exactly - "water tanks for Mesopotamia" I think was the full code name.